In the End
by Alexander C
Summary: Orochimaru has finally achieved victory: he has found a way to outwit Death and live a life of immortality. But what if Death can't be fooled so easily?


**In The End**

This is my first fanfic. Reviews are appreciated, but please be fair. Flames are pointless. I don't own Naruto or any other characters or settings depicted in this story. Be warned, I change points of view quite randomly. Thanks for your time and enjoy!

- A.C.

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Orochimaru was not a stupid man. Orochimaru was actually an exceptionally smart man. In fact, before he betrayed them, the Leaf had called him a gifted prodigy well on his way to earning the title of Hokage. After he betrayed them, Orochimaru has been called a terrifying evil mastermind – a supreme threat. However, on both accounts, everyone knew, and still does know, that Orochimaru was, and still is, an extremely intelligent individual. Who else could be so smart as to create, from scratch, his own recipe for immortality? Who else, Orochimaru thought to himself, could outwit Death?

However, as history has shown, no evil genius is ever as smart he appears. And as history has continued to prove, no matter how devoted you are, no matter many nations you conquer, no matter how many Jutsus you learn, in the end, nobody escapes their ultimate fate. And it was with this happy thought in his head that the strange looking man in white robes leisurely strolled down a certain unnamed path in the deep forests of the Village of Sound.

He was a strange creature, this one. Although when looking at him, you were sure he was a male, he seemed to have equally male and female features to his face. In fact, the man's face seemed to shift – sometimes looking more like a woman's, and sometimes looking more like a man's. Stranger still, as Kabuto watched the man's almost cocky swagger, Kabuto thought he saw, if only for a split-second, a glimpse and his dear old father.

"But that's impossible, isn't it?" thought Kabuto. "I killed him years ago, even before Sasori recruited me to Akatsuki."

It had actually been quite a time before that. Kabuto had walked in from the Academy early one morning to find his father raping his sister. Before he knew what was happening, one of his own father's senbon needles was impaled through the back of his father's head.

"That was a long time ago. Get a hold of yourself; you're supposed to be doing reconnaissance!" Kabuto chided himself. "Last thing I want is to become another one of Manda's mid-afternoon snacks!" This was more than likely to happen if he screwed up this fairly simple recon assignment. "Better get back to Orochimaru-sama before this odd duck shows up." That was where the stranger appeared to be headed – their hideout. He seemed to move throughout the forest with an ease that could only be gleaned from years spent living there. He avoided the cleverly placed traps set by Sasuke (the brat was obviously not being discreet enough) and dispelled the extremely complicated and powerful Genjutsus Kabuto had set there himself. The only person Kabuto had seen move through the forest with such familiarity was Orochimaru-sama himself. "Oh well, Orochimaru-sama can do with this info what he will." With that, Kabuto vanished in a puff of smoke, only to appear in him and Orochimaru's compound in the middle of the forest a few seconds later.

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"Well, this is probably the place," Said the bizarre white-robed man to himself. Although this tone of voice was light and unsure, the man knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was the place he was looking for. "Either that, or all this evil chakra is being exuded by a fucking demon breeding ground," he thought. But there haven't been any of those for a few millennia; he scolded himself for wandering off of his train of thought. Demon breeding ground indeed. Impossible!

He hoped.

"Nope, I got the right place!" he shouted in glee. He knew this by the few dozen poisonous snakes that were flying at him, with every intention of maiming and killing him. With a simple flick of his wrist, the snakes turned to ash, fated to spend the rest of eternity biting the ankles of the sinners on the 2nd level of Hell. "Serves them right, filthy beasts" the man contemplated.

"Hmph. That's a neat little trick. Who are you and why do you have a death wish?" interrupted a tall, dark haired boy.

"Who, me?" he asked. "Well, you can just call me Tod."

"Tod? What kind of shinobi name is that?' asked the boy, whom Tod had just identified as Uchiha Sasuke. "Oh, I'm not a shinobi." Tod said. "But I know that you are, Uchiha Sasuke. I couldn't mistake that hair, or that incredibly annoying aura of assumed superiority that the Uchiha's had all but copyrighted. To think, your family still retained their swagger, even after they met me!" Tod smiled slightly, as if laughing at a joke only he understood.

"Why, what's so special about you?" Sasuke asked, sneering. "Aside from that weird mug of yours?" Sasuke was obviously commenting on the man's weird face, which seemed to flicker back and forth between looking like men he used to know, or women he used to know. However, they all had one thing in common – they were all dead. "What does my family have to do with anything?"

"You're family actually gave me quite a bit of a hassle during that fateful night. I mean business is good, but too much..." Tod's tone was softer this time; somehow, it seemed even more dangerous than it did before, when it was overly hostile.

"What? How could they give you business whe- ohhhhhhh…" Sasuke suddenly got very quiet. He even started to back away a little.

"Very good, boy. You've gotten it quicker than most." Tod's tone had grown extremely soft and cold. Although it was just a voice, it was the most terrifying thing he had ever heard. "Fat lot of good that'll do you, though, where you're going…" Just to make sure Sasuke wouldn't fall asleep anytime soon, Tod showed him a glimpse of his true form. Just a glimpse. Just enough to give him a few years of terrifying nightmares.

Sasuke ran. He ran as fast as he could. He ran, and he ran, and he ran some more. And when he felt as though his chest would burst, he activated his curse seal, just so that he would be able to run some more. Back to Konoha. Back to repent. Hopefully, that's what… it…wanted.

"Huh." whispered the man. "Smart kid. I didn't think he'd be smart enough to believe me. I wonder if this goon will be the same. But I hope not…" Three senbon needles shot out from a tree only to be caught in the white robed man's hands.

"Nice catch. Could you grace me with your name before I kill you?" Asked Kabuto as he stepped out of his tree. Orochimaru-sama had ordered this man's death, and it would be done.

"Who me? Well, you can just call me Ölüm…"

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"Kabto has been gone for quite some time. This is becoming slightly worrisome." Orochimaru sent Kabuto a jolt of pain on his curse mark, though a little more than was necessary, hoping that this would quicken his subordinates return. Orochimaru obviously didn't like to be kept waiting.

"No matter," said Orochimaru to himself "I'll just send Sasuke-kun to go get him." This time, the Snake Sannin sent his other main subordinate a jolt of pain, though it was less than he had sent Kabuto.

"He won't come. He ran. And neither will your foolish medic-nin. He chose not to run and, well…"

Orochimaru was taken completely by surprise. Though he was slightly impressed. It had been a while since any one had been able to get the drop on him.

"And who, may I ask, are you, my soon-to-be dismembered friend?" Asked Orochimaru in a silky voice.

"What is it with you people and asking me my name before you plan to try and kill me?!" asked the annoyed man. "I mean, if you're planning on murdering me, what's the point? It's getting quite repetitive!" The man sounded annoyed, but his face showed only amusement. But then, the man's face darkened "But even though it is quite annoying to have to do so, I am honor bound to answer. You can call me Mavet".

"Strange name. But no matter… dead souls need not bother with names, however bizarre…" Orochimaru then disappeared, using his incredible speed. He then appeared right in front of the intruder, and swung his sword, Kusanagi, which had materialized in his hands, straight through the man's torso. It was a blow that no mortal man could survive. But Mavet is not really a mortal man, now is he?

The sword ran straight through Mavet's body, not even making a mark.

"An illusion. Now, where are you really? You can't hide forever." Orochimaru asked to the seemingly empty space in front of him.

"Oh, I'm not an illusion." said Mavet. "In fact you're the only person in history who's ever actually seen the real me and lived." To prove that he was, in fact, solid, he punched a tree and reduced it to dust.

"Stop speaking nonsense. We both know we have never met before." said the Snake Sannin.

"Oh, come now, Orochimaru, surely you're memory can't be that faulty. I mean, it must have been quite the memorable day when you lost your arms."

"How could you know about that? There were only nine people that saw that, and five of them are dead."

"Hey, I could be one of the two ANBU."

"I'm sure you aren't an ANBU. Those pitiful wastes of jutsus would never dare enter this place." said Orochimaru scornfully.

"Well you're right there, but you were wrong before. There were ten that witnessed that particular event."

"No, nine!" corrected Orochimaru. "Me, the foolish old man, my Sound Four, the two ANBU and the Fox-brat. There, nine, not ten!"

"My dear, elusive, slithery, evil, despicable Orochimaru," Mavet's voice was growing steadily angrier. "I am genuinely offended. How could you forget the orchestrator of that whole event?"

"Who, you? I see no reason why I should remember you. I've never seen you before!" Orochimaru was screaming at the top of his lungs now, which was a rare thing indeed. It seemed to his subordinates that their master never screamed when he lost his temper. He would usually just smile and impale the person annoying him. Mavet had really ticked him off by this point.

"Still not getting it, are you? I'm disappointed. I thought that you would get it so quickly. The Uchiha brat got pretty fast, and the medic-nin got it after a few blatant hints. I took him for his density. That and the fact that he didn't believe me. But, you, you're just too stupid, apparently. I guess I'll have to take a more direct approach."

That tore it. Orochimaru had been containing himself, just barely, trying to glean as much info off of this man, in case he divulged a weakness. But no one, NO ONE insulted the Great Orochimaru's intelligence. He attacked Mavet with all he had. It was only after realizing that it was doing nothing did he stop.

"I'll say it again – disappointing. Oh well, maybe my next assignment will be smarter…"

"Quiet!" shouted Orochimaru, closing his eyes and preparing to summon a snake to devour this seemingly untouchable creature. It was only when he opened his eyes did the whole scenario come clear to him. The intruder, who was able to so easily play Orochimaru's ego against him, had changed. The man still wore white robes, but they were far more elaborate, and he had beads running all over his body. But it was the face. The face that still gave the mighty Snake Sannin nightmares. It was the face of a demon. The face of the one who took his arms. Him. "Oh Kami." Orochimaru choked

"_**TRY AGAIN. A LITTLE FURTHER DOWN THIS TIME, THOUGH."**_ If expression could be shown on the demon's face, it would have been an ear to ear grin.

Like Sasuke, Orochimaru ran. But unlike Sasuke, he didn't make it two steps before he dropped to the ground, unmistakably dead.

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As he pulled his scythe out of Orochimaru's body, the demon reverted back to his old form. "Well, that was enjoyable. But I hope my next target will be a bit quicker on the uptake." With a final grin, Mavet whispered "Kami, I love this job! Because no matter how smart, powerful or rich you get, in the end, nobody escapes their ultimate fate. No one escapes…_**ME**_." And with that, he disappeared into nothingness.

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Hidan was racing through the valley, cursing that annoyingly smart shadow user who kept outthinking him at every turn. Somehow, he had managed to separate Hidan from the rest of the fight by throwing him off a nearby 80 foot cliff, leaving Kakuzu to deal with the Copy Ninja at his helpers.

"I smell blood, I must be getting closer." He thought to himself as he neared the sounds of battle. "Soon those filthy heathens will understand what I mean when I say fighting me is pointless. I mean, I'm immortal for fuck's sake!"

A bush stirred behind him, and the swishing a cloak could be heard, along with the sound of faint laughter…

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I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Again, feedback and constructive criticism is greatly appreciated and flames are pointless.

Just in case you didn't get it, the man was the Shinigami – the Death God. Tod, Ölüm and Mavet are the German, Ukrainian and Hebrew words for "Death", respectively.

Until next time (if there is one – depends on the reviews)

- A.C.


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